Interesting draft thought – Dexter McCluster

Read here from Bleacher Report. Author Adam Bayer makes a case for going after this smallish WR/RB who is seriously fast/quick and has great hands. Bayer claims that “many sources” have indicated this guy is high on the team’s draft board.

I would like a guy like this on the team for several reasons. As Bayer points out, he might help with the return game. But he also would be an additional weapon on offense. Last year, I was very concerned when the Vikings drafted Percy Harvin because the guy was so dominant in college. The only surprising part of Harvin’s success last year to me, was that the Vikings figured out how to use the guy effectively. If the Packers had a super fast, shifty back who could line up in the slot occasionally or catch passes out of the backfield occasionally, our already difficult-to-defend offense would become a brutal-to-defend offense.

Conversely, I feel the same way, sort of, about picking up a physically huge WR. There is something about super huge and super small guys that on a very simple level, can cause significant match-up issues for defenses. TE Jermichael Finley is a good example of how extreme size causes instant match-up problems for defenses.

7 Responses to “Interesting draft thought – Dexter McCluster”

Saw some pics of Finley doing boxing workouts (awesome). Got the big receiver already. GB needs O linemen. Let me say that again. GB needs O linemen. As it stands now they will be going into camp with exactly the same line they had last year. Does anyone here think that Clifton and Tauscher will make it through all 16 games? There is no line depth (Lang only) and it has to be fixed before the season starts.

That said, McCluster might be a good #1 for his versitility, especially returns. Just saw an article on Blckmon over at Packer.com which gives me great doubt about his ability to return at full strength. This draft is deep at Olinemen with potential. They will need at least two, probably three Olinemen in the draft and hope for the best. TT will not get into the FA market again.

1st pick #23. Focus on the Oline. If we can get a guy there, and he’s not a reach, draft him. If the guy we want can be taken a bit later, move down a bit and pick an extra pick up. That way we still get the guy we want and didn’t reach for him.

If we moved down, we’d have a fairly high 2nd round pick. Possibly use that on McCluster. And then we could use the original #56 on a safety or OLB, and I think if we were in this scenario, moving up to get a guy we wanted could be a wise move (Thats if the guy we wanted for Safety or OLB required moving up).

If we stayed at #23, our next pick is 56. We could possibly move up to get him if we don’t think he’ll slide or we can gamble if we think there is a good chance he could make it to #56.

So at this point we should have an O-lineman, McCluster and possibly a Safety/OLB. If just the first two, I think Safety/OLB needs to be the next pick. If we have to move up or down, I think we need to. This is an important pick.

And then I feel maybe using that compensatory pick or something on a QB. That bleacher report site suggested Noah Shepard as a very good option for a wildcat QB. Good runner, good passer and who knows, maybe he can work out as our future backup/QB that we could trade for value. I think at 5, that could be a smart move.

The positives. This improves our Offense TREMENDOUSLY.
OL gets more solid. We have a very scary Offensive player to run or catch, along with the WR’s/TE’s we currently have. We could also pick up a wildcat player that would go VERY well with McCluster and our WR’s/Finley.

This improves our Return game.

This gives some depth at QB, for future value, and for security measures.

S/OLB addition is important. The defense needs some more help. Pass Rusher to go with Clay and Dline will have fits, disrupting their QB. Or a safety who is dynamic in coverage. Many big plays, and hits and hopefully adding more INTS for our Defense.

And in regards to the other picks, hopefully they can be used for quality depth in our Defense. Maybe we can get a talented CB as depth, and work on him so he can become a great starter real soon.

I see the biggest priority as CB/S and then OL. If Pat Lee can contribute then CB is less urgent. A scary quick return man/scat back would make this offense that much more hard to defend, but you gotta really love him to take him at 23. If we can’t get a stud CB at 23 I actually hope that TT does trade back out of the 1st, and uses an extra 2 to get McCluster, then drafts OL depth. The problem with CBs seems to me to be that you never really know who can play in the NFL until they get there and usefull DBs can come from anywhere. If Spitz is healthy I think he is the answer at LG. Colledge should be put on a piece of ice and pushed out to sea.

Ray but I was thinking about our CB position and we may be ok this year without getting one early. Like I was saying, if we got one late who has a lot of talent but is a project and we’d have to work with him, I think that would work. It is sort of a risk because we may never be able to “train” him enough so that he is a real stud, but sometimes when you work with a guy whose really talented, it pays off.

So if we got a talented guy, fast, physical, and moves really well, and had a year to work with him and don’t expect him to start, we’d be ok. There are often talented guys, but need better technique and stuff to be good, so it would take at least a year to be taught the things he needed to know, by both coaches and players like Woodson.

Think about it.

Woodson were ok. Tramon can be a pro bowler. He was hurt last year, so him and Harris’s injury made our defense fall apart. And its a huge bonus should Harris make it back and play well.

Then we have some younger guys who are not the best, but hopefully they keep improving because they add to our depth and could step in.

And don’t forget about Pat Lee. He keeps getting hurt, so not sure about him yet, but he might be pretty good if he can finally avoid injuries. I know its a risk to avoid getting a CB early, but say we got a scary tandem at Safety, it would certainly impact our defense. A fast, physical safety with good hands paired with Collins would be phenomenal.

Packers are interested in Brian Westbrook. Apparently this is from two different sources that Packers are thinking about signing Westbrook.

This sounds good, considering if we were thinking about drafting a RB we lose a pick to help other important areas like OL, OLB, S, CB etc.

As well, Westbrook shouldn’t cost a whole lot and he would be a nice backup to Grant. And with Westbrook getting less playing time, lowers the chance of injury and keeps him fresh because if I’m not mistaken he is starting to age.

This will then allow us some time to eventually pick up another back (higher pick in the draft) who would eventually become our starter. And I hope that it would be a fast one that we can use in many different ways, and then look for a big back who is physical. Having a RB tandem like that can do wonders for your running game, and even the passing game.

I think this could be a smart move by TT. Westbrook can still do well but he can no longer handle a full workload, so being behind Grant could be a great thing.

Then with RB out of the way our draft can then get a solid LT. Pick up a great pass rusher and hopefully a athletic, physical safety. Then I definitely think we should be on the lookout for a very good CB project. And I still have some hopes in getting a QB that can bring a wildcat dimension to our team. Although then I wish we had a fast RB with good hands because put those two together and watch out.

With off season so boring, this time of the year gets me jacked! finally some interesting stuff going on with draft only like a week away.